Love Me, Even in War
by Miss Pavalova
Summary: He was in the middle of a war. Prices like that were meant to be paid, but honestly, he couldn't stand the fact that the girl he had loved for so long died in his arms, after she just saved his life.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi Hi! **

**Yeah... New story. And it's Tratie! Though it's really, really sad. I thought of it last night after reading some other PJO fics from the war. My interpretation of what could've happened to Travis and Katie during the Titan War.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own PJO.

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**It was a war. That was all she knew as she was fighting wave upon wave of monsters, thirsty for some demi-god blood. And she thought she was going to be safe. She thought she was going to survive. That is; until she saved him.

..O..

Screams of terror, the sound of sword upon sword, and the constant feeling of death surrounded her as she fought a dracanae. As she pierced it with her spear, she had a moment's relief, before the next creature came upon her to attack. The routine was repetitive, and it felt like hours were going by as the hacked and slashed through the monsters. All seemed fine at one moment, even though they were in a middle of a raging war; although that changed, when she saw that he was heading straight for his doom.

He was hacking at some dracanae, not even looking what was behind him. He was unbeknowst to the fact that he was heading straight for a rogue demi-god. The demi-god had a look of pure blood-thirst as he moved back further and further. Getting ever closer to his close death.

She did the impossible. She willed vines to uproot for the ground and grab a hold of his legs. The vines followed her orders, and tossed him at least 10 feet into the air, in which he came crashing to the ground at a break-neck speed. Shock was all that registered on his face before he hit the ground, in which he lay upon still. 'He was safe', was all that she thought, not even knowing what was coming up behind her.

Pain; was what she felt as she looked down on the point of impact with the blade. Her stomach. Blood was starting to seep through her shirt as she realized what was going on, before she fell abruptly to the ground. 'At least I saved him', was her last thought, before she blacked out.

..O..

He was fighting a dracanae. A fairly violent one at that. He never really noticed where he was heading. Never really noticed that he was about to get killed. As the dracanae fell down in a puff of golden dust, he felt a movement behind his back. He swiftly turned and saw a demi-god being hurtled away from him. He looked to see if he could find his savior. That's when he saw it happen.

An enemy demi-god was behind her. A look of shock crossed her face as she looked at her stomach, which was bleeding profusely. She then lifted her help, as if she were looking for someone to help her, before she toppled to the ground.

At that, he ran. Ran as fast as he could get to her. He saw that demi-god. A look on triumph on their face before he stabbed them. He then turned to her. Her body laying lifelessly on the ground. He picked her up bridal style, and started heading towards the hotel where they were setting base camp for the night. She was not going to die on him. Not if he had anything to do with it.

She moved a little in his arms. Then she moved a little more. Then little-by-little, she moved until, her eyes fluttered open. Though very weakly. She was turning deathly-pale. And he knew that soon, it was going to be too late.

"T-T-Travis." she said softly, her voice barely a whisper. He had to strain his ears to know what she had said over the noises over the war.

"Yeah Katie." he said, trying to be as calm as she grew ever weaker. It seemed to be taking all her strength just to keep her eyes open.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" she asked softly. She seemed to be already accepting her fate as the wound bled even worse.

"Of course you aren't." he said optimistically. "We're going to find you a healer. You're going to live."

She stifled a weak laugh, as her eyelids got heavier and heavier. "Travis. I know you're trying to be optimistic. But it's no use. You know it, and I know it. I'm going to die."

"No you're not." he said firmly as they paused at where they were standing. He thought it was somewhere in Central Park or so. He crouched down and lay Katie on the ground. He was trying to hold back tears as he saw her weak state and as he tried to accept the fact of losing her.

"Please." she said, her voice wavering. She cupped his cheek as he gripped her hand, desperately trying to find a way for her to live. "I don't want to be in pain anymore. I _want_ to die Travis."

"No." he said, his tears free-falling as he spoke. "You can't die."

"And why is that?" she asked.

"Because. I couldn't live with myself of I let you die." he said. His reply shocked Katie and gave her a little bit of strength to stay awake.

"Travis. _Please._" she said, her voice simply weak. "I know you wouldn't live with yourself. But I'm in pain. This is painful. I simply want to rest."

"But-"he began.

"Travis. I want to tell you something, since I may never get the chance to do so now." she said before taking a precious breath of air. "I-I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked, his voice breaking.

"For everything. For being cruel to you as I could possibly be. I was terrible to you, and I knew I shouldn't have done that." she said.

"And I know that I shouldn't have put Easter bunnies on your roof." he said, trying to lighten the mood. Katie just gave a simple smile and took another shallow breath.

"And. There's one more thing that I want to tell you." she said shakily.

"Yeah…" he said.

"I always hated you. I completely loathed you." she said before pausing.

"That's nice." Travis said sarcastically. She gave him a death glare but continued talking.

"But. I think I really mistook those feelings. What I'm trying to say is… is…" she said, as her eyelids got heavier and heavier.

"Katie. Katie." Travis said more concernedly, as he shook her.

"I… I…" she muttered before she took her final shallow breath and closed her eyes. The last thing she had wanted to say kept a secret, even in death.

As she stopped breathing; as her pulse stopped; as her heart stopped beating, he knew that he was gone. It was a lost cause. The sunrise was coming and the enemies retreating for the time being. Campers started to scatter, trying to find friends and loved ones. Connor found Travis, holding Katie's lifeless body and crying his heart out.

He never managed to tell her the most important thing. The one thing he should've told her a long time ago. Before the war. The words that will never be uttered by him again. The words that he had meant to say to her. Those three small words that he would have to keep till death. _I love you._

_

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_**Sad right? Told you so.**

**Anyways. This is a two-shot, so there's going to be another chapter.**

**So sorry if this was really sad... It made me really sad as well...**

**I hope you guys review. Because this is like my first take on a death, and I need to know if it was good enough.**

**I'll update soon! Promise.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO

So... I just felt that leaving you all hanging is a horrible thing to do especially since I haven't updated this in... a _lot_ of months. Wow... Anyways, we'll just leave it at that.

It's nice to know that the last chapter moved a lot of you, and I hope this chapter could uplift your spirits about the whole story a little bit. Enjoy~

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He was supposed to be happy, wasn't he? They had won the war. Kronos defeated; Typhon sent to the depths of Tartarus and Percy finally getting the girl of his dreams that he's loved for gods knows how many years. The impossible had happened, and was he happy?

Of course not.

The girl that he's loved. The girl that he loved ever since he placed that first chocolate bunny on their roof. She was gone. She was dead. He had watched helplessly as the girl that he's loved for so long died in his arms. And he couldn't do anything to stop it.

So there he was. Sitting in an isolated meadow that he had discovered after running away from the harpies one night. It was filled with flowers. All different types, ranging from hyacinths to jasmines In the moonlight, the meadow looked especially beautiful. He was meaning to show Katie the garden after the battle was over. Guess he couldn't do that now…

Sure people mourned for the loss. Her own cabin was sadder than anyone else at camp, with the exception of him of course. But he told no-one. He told no-one of the inner turmoil he was facing at the moment. Not even his own dearest brother.

"Why couldn't I have saved you…" he muttered to himself bitterly. He was in deep despair. A despair that no-one could pull him out of.

He heard footsteps behind him, though only faintly. He wasn't bothered to look around, believing it was just someone giving their condolences. Probably because he was the last person to see her alive.

"If you're here to say something, it's no use." he said, answered only by the wind. There was a pregnant pause, before the voice finally spoke.

"I'm not here to give condolences." the voice said. It belonged to someone he never expected. He turned around to see…

"Nico?" Travis said, clearly confused as to why the son of Hades was there.

"I know what it's like to lose someone… important." he said. Travis was confused at first then realized what he was talking about. This kid had seen death so many times. He even lost his own sister.

"Yeah…" Travis mumbled lowly. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Let's just say… I'm doing you a favor." he replied simply.

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

"Lady Demeter said that she would've turned me into dirt if I didn't do this…" he said before simply vanishing into the shadows.

He shook his head in confusion, wondering what Nico was saying. He turned back to where he was staring wistfully, but the sight that greeted him, was too emotional for words.

Standing in front of him, her form a ghastly pale and her figure wispy, as if rising out of smoke. She was in different clothes; a white halter-top dress and a wreath of flowers wrapped around her head. Her hand was held out, as if trying to reach him from wherever she was. Even if she was just an apparition, Travis thought that she was still as beautiful as when they had danced underneath the twinkle-lit stars.

A pregnant pause lay between them, as they just gazed upon each other in a deep longing. The tension between them became unbearable. Only after a few moments, he boldly stepped forward and tried to touch the outstretched hand. His fingers passed straight through hers. As if she could feel the touch, she cringed, and he pulled his hand back, then continued to look at her once again.

"K-Ka-Katie." He breathed out disbelievingly. At the sound of her name, it seemed as if her piercing gaze intensified. "Is that you?"

She nodded solemnly, but then broke eye contact with him and stared at the meadow of flowers they were lingering in. She kneeled down and tried to stroke the petal of a nearby lily, but just like the case with Travis' hand, her fingers slipped right through. She raised the opaque hand up and looked at it forlornly, before uttering an inaudible sigh.

He kneeled down beside her and picked up the lily she was eying. She watched his actions curiously as he pocketed the lily and looked back up to meet her dull, lifeless eyes. She could see that his eyes were clouded with unshed tears. He didn't even try to hide the fact that those tears were about to fall. He just gazed at her, with the same longing that she stared at him with earlier.

"You know," he began quietly, his tone forlorn and so out of his normal goofy voice. "I was going to take you here. After the war I mean. I discovered it after one of the raids in the camp store where the harpies nearly had my head. I ran and ran, not even knowing or caring where I would end up, and then I found this place. Do you know what I first thought when I saw this field?"

She shook her head, though she was already sure what the answer was going to be.

"You." He uttered huskily. Even from the dead, his voice could still cause shivers up her spine, and she fought back the urge to splutter incoherent thoughts. "I first thought of you, and how I could finally impress you, and show that I've actually _grown up_. Then, I was going to tell you one important thing when I took you here, and I guess it's probably time now."

She couldn't stop gaping as he turned his whole body to face her, his piercing brown eyes still gazing at her fiercely. His hands lingered over where hers were, and even if he knew that he wouldn't be able to feel the softness of them, the feeling that they were just there was enough to make him feel elated.

He took a deep breath before beginning. "Ever since the whole Easter Bunny incident, when I first realized that you actually existed in this camp, I couldn't get you out of my head. For a whole four years, you have haunted my dreams and plagued my thoughts. I could always see your flowing brown hair, and those beautiful emerald eyes of yours and all I kept on thinking before this past year was 'why can't she get out of my head?'; then I realized it."

She took a gasp as he leaned his head forward, so his forehead was touching hers, even though he couldn't feel it. She could feel his warm breath, even if she was over a thousand miles away. He could still see the remnants of the sparkling emeralds in the murky green of her eyes that stared at him in shock. He smiled at her expression, reminding himself of the days before the whole incident.

"I love you." She gasped in utter shock. "I loved you, I love you and I will always love you. Even if you aren't part of this world anymore, and everyone gradually forgets about you all the time, I will never. Just like I said, you'll haunt my dreams and plague my thoughts, now and forever more."

She couldn't handle it anymore, and by some miracle from the gods, she closed the gap between their lips. Unlike the rest of her, he could feel her lips. He could feel the softness of them, pushing against his own. He felt as if she was really there, in the flesh, kissing him, even if it was just her own spirit. It was something he had been wishing and hoping to happen since that day four years ago. He felt intoxicated by the kiss, as if he could just drown in it forever.

She then parted with him, and after the many days of mourning and grief, he saw the real Katie he knew and loved. She stared at him, her sparkling emerald eyes replacing the murky green. Her skin was less pale than before and he could notice the faint flush on her cheeks. Her kissed lips were parted in a very adorable way and he couldn't help but smile at her shocked expression.

She then moved, so that her lips were barely hovering over his ear. He felt cool shudders as she placed her hand on his cheek before she spoke.

"Travis Stoll," she began, her tone soft and husky. "I loved you, I love you and I will always love you." At those words, he tried to hold back a surprised gasp. She paused for a moment before continuing. "I may not be a part of this world anymore, but I will never, _ever _forget about you. No matter how long it's going to take, I will wait for you. Now we part, and we won't be seeing each other for a long time, but just remember that somewhere in this crazy universe, I'll be waiting."

He closed his eyes, trying to remember her final words to him. He could feel something press against his lips once again, but only for a second. He then opened his eyes immediately after the kiss, and just like he was expecting, nothing was there to meet him. He bowed his head down and his hands fisted in his hair. He bit his lip as to stop the words he wanted to scream from the top of his lungs. Tears fell from his stinging eyes like raindrops from the sky, moistening the earth beneath him. He had to let go of all the pent up emotions that raged inside of him; it was the only way he could calm himself down.

After what felt like minutes, or what could've possibly been hours, he was lying down in the field, gazing up at the stars above him. Even if he knew where all people went during death, he couldn't help but remember those days when his mother said that all the people who died moved to live among the stars. He smiled at the forlorn memory as he continued to watch the night sky open up to him and he couldn't help but feel that somewhere, wherever she was, Katie was watching over him at that instant.

Then he realized he was all alone now; that everything in life was going to change without her in his life. He sighed wistfully before closing his eyes once again, remembering all the memories about her that he cherished in his whole entirety.

He knew that life would change and keep moving forward, but all those thoughts, feelings, memories that involved her would never change. He would just have to accept that and wait until the first moment he would be able to see her again.


End file.
